Monday, January 28, 2008

UM what a shock in the life of a missionary!!! I was with one of his apostles Saturday and then I get this news. Sad but at the same time powerful. None of us knew this so huh, Sad. Well all is going well for us here in the HEAT. We´ll have 2 baptisms on the 10th and one more on the 17th the work is improving. The area has been rough this transfer but is turning out well with diligence. It's amazing how the Lord works. Sounds like y'all are enjoying some cold for me neh. Fun I'm jealous. Ba I can´t spell. I'm an idiot in English, sorry be patient with me. Conference with Elder Nelson was amazing a small chapel of 100 missionaries and an apostle. Imagine the power. We all got to meet him and ask questions. It was really sweeet. I taped it but the tape turned out funny. Do you think that someone can turn up the volume and take out the static? If not, o well I took notes I guess. Well I have a few more items that I would like. Those tie things from Farells to hold your ties down a wad of those, The card game uno to play on pday, Maple extract to make maple syrup for pancakes. Wait!!! DUCT TAPE!! The most amazing thing in the redneck world, candy and as usual sunflower seeds. For now thats it I think. With the music dont send it in the normal package, they screen the package for the security bars of electronics and make you pay up the wad to recieve the package. E. Stanger paid equivalent to 200 dollars u.s. for his christmas package. Remember fotos of Christ. Pictures of home family o All that you have of the sacred grove thats a powerful teaching tool. Letters you know the rounds. I have recieved Andrea's package, SWEET snow and all it rocked. Thank you all. I have to think of what I want to say for my Testimony so I dont have it done yet, sorry. Life of a missionary is run, run, run, it's tough to keep up at times. I wonder if Elder Richard Hinckley will still come next month hmmm nao sei. Probably a little later in the month. My time is up gots to go, sorry. I love you all. Muah!!! In my prayers always!!!ELDER RAPP

This pic is of Elder Rapp and his companion Elder Pires. They are enjoying beautiful Brazil on p-day. Jacob mentioned this drink to me on Christmas. He said that it is an herbal thing he didn't enjoy when he first tried it. He says now it has grown on him and he loves it. I can't remember the name. The straw is made of metal and has a filter in it to keep the herbs from coming up through the straw.

Hello Everyone! Another week down. Things went really well this week. The teaching shot through the roof, And 2 Baptisms yesterday. From opening an area to baptising, things have improved. Of course we have weeks that are tuff. But they strengthen us neh. Sounds like all is well In Idaho. A bit chilly but what do you expect for Idaho neh. I'm Roasten for you all k? We really had an amazing week, after enough fasting and Praying for things to become better it happened. We doubled our last week. And we found lots of new people that are amazing. I had one lesson that left everyone, starting with me enveloped in the spirit and crying. It's amazing to me how the Lord works. He always has something special in mind for us. It may not always be in our time but it is what we need. This last week was great, the week before strengthened my testimony of the power of prayer. Many of times I found myself kneeling asking for help and Blessings truly came. I am grateful for the power of prayer. It is a blessing in my life. My comp blew up on me on Saturday, it was tough for me. I walked out of the room to Pray. I walked back into that room afterwards and appologized for everything I did wrong and asked for forgiveness. I then told him that it is impossible fo us to work without the spirit and we needed to fix things. Well things turned out good in the end and the day turned out great. It is through our struggles that we grow stonger. I Look at the things I have learned through the eyes of others. What can I learn from them? I then apply those things into my life. These things are for our good. Thanks for all you all do for me it is truly felt. Mommy I want skittles, music, p-nut m&ms, little candies to give to little kids, ctr rings for little kids, starbursts hard candies and Mountain Dew. I know you can get it to me some how. And I don't know what else so ya, and im still confused about the book of mormons in Port. so please explain. Love you all. Thanks for everything you are all always in my prayers. Love, ELDER RAPP

Monday, January 14, 2008

Mothers anyway huh! J/k., to be honest with you this last week was a disaster. From our numbers rising to a sudden drop. Blah its tuff. Really testing my patience. Monday through Wednesday 0 lessons 0 new investigators, 1000 street contacts and only 2 addresses. Oooohhhh i was sooo stressed. I'm really learning the power of prayer. I just pray and pray and pray. I don´t know what else to do. My comp and I had a really good talk about the mission this last week. It really opened my horizons. Remember the trek that Joseph Smith took all of those people on? Ya, well there was lots of complaining and oh this sucks you know. Well in the end the future leaders of the church were picked. The 12 apostles were picked. I got to thinking about that. All the trials they had, people sick, people dying. It was a trial of their faith. Now I add it to my life now, the experiences I am having. If I do my best here and shape my life how I want it to be, I know that this will effect the rest of my life. My trials now are strengthening me more than ever. You know I never really looked forward when I was home. I kinda just lived for the moment. There are lots of things I wish I could change. I know I wasn´t doing the bad things and making stupid choices, but I could have done better. I am Living my life now so that I can provide for my family and do my best in life after the mission. It's tuff ya, but it's worth it. These struggles are how the Lord told Joseph in the jail. Your trial will be but a small moment. What we take out of our trials is what will stay with us for the rest of our lives. This is what we need to learn. If ever we are having troubles, just kneel in prayer. We were at an old investigators house last night and she was having some troubles. She said that God did not want to hear her prayers any more. Her faith has gone away. From the moment we left our Father in Heaven, he said Remember who you are. Wow what a strong love he truly has for us. He doesn´t want to see us cry. He doesn´t want to see us hurt but he is carrying us in these moments. It is through our faith, our humility, to ask for help. We have a baptism on Sunday this week. Whoohoo the work and struggles pay off. Oh and Russell M Nelson will be here for a meeting for the missionaries in a few zones, including mine. That has got us pretty excited. I'm really looking forward to it. Well I'll get my testimony ready for you for next week. I would like to organize my thoughts a little better k? I have a question, what do you mean by Portuguese book of mormons. I'm lost in that whole thought. And send me some more sunflower seed bbq por favor. Thanks your the best, and send it in a box. I think you'll be able to send a can of dew that way. At least give it a try for your favorite missionary. PPPLLLEASAsee!!! Any ways life is rough but we are doing our best. Thanks for all you do for me on the other side of the world. Muah! Love you all so very much!!! Atê Proximo Semana Tchao Te ama Love your missionary. ELDER RAPP

This next letter is the letter he sent this morning. I was in tears as I read this one. He is amazing. I love how much he is growing and learning. His testimony strengthens mine every time I hear it. What a great young man. I look up to him in so many ways. What a great sacrifice to give up two years of your life and go out to a country where they don't speak your language and give of yourself. I am grateful that he is finally getting the Portuguese and understanding more about what is being said to him. They say the first 6 months you spend learning the ropes. He will still learn throughout I am sure, but he is almost there. This last letter to him, I asked for a little more meat so to speak. He came through with flying colors. Enjoy!

Thanks So much for the experiences. I need to write you all more about my cool experiences. You just can't help but feel the spirit and grow from their experiences. It's great to hear all of you are doing well. My how time is flying. I'm getting ready to burn a tie for six months in the mission here in a few weeks. It doesn't seem like that long, but it really is flying. I have had a ton of rough times with the language, with the people, with my companions, but I grow so much each time I struggle. It amazes me how much the Lord teaches us through our trials. I have seen things here, people totally change through one decision to return to the righteous path. I know that this work is true. This is a marvelous way that we have to gain experience. I love you all and pray for you always!!! Love, Elder Rapp

Hello all, Things are going great. Sorry your computer sucks. My comp is great. The new area sucked at the beginning because the last two comps he had wouldn't work, so we had to pretty much open the area. Elder Madeiro is great. We are working hard and keep improving every week. The area is good now. We have a Family baptism Jan 19th, it will be great. I'm really seeing how Satan is working our investigators right now. They are prepared to be baptised and he makes them fall again. But they get right back up because they truly want it. Things are improving quickly. I'm growing like crazy. We did service the other day, blah i have blisters like crazy. See what you get for kindness. I Love it though. Thanks for all you guys do for me. I love you all and pray for you always. Keep up the good work. Elder RAPP

OI MeuQueridoFamilia, Things are great here in the amazing , hot interesting country of Brasil. Im being transferred again grrr just when i know my area. I'm headed back to POA in the morning. Traveling is not very fun with all my stuff. My bags weigh a million pounds and I swear I don't need it all. They lie when they tell you what to bring. O well Ill pack it all around for a little while I guess. Only a few more months i guess. Almost to the 5 month mark. Time truly is flying. All of your love truly is felt, thanks so much for all you do. I have really drawn closer to you all by being here. I have been truly blessed at home and in the mission field. My Portuguese is improving tremendously now. The Lord truly blesses his missionaries. That power is real I've seen and experienced it. I have seen some amazing things happen here in just my short time. I have a very strong testimony of the church now. I thought I had one before but realize now how much I've grown in the gospel. Miracles actually happen in our lives. I love you all and am so grateful for all of you. Love ELDER RAPP

Hello family... hows my great family doing this week? I think my mother reads minds... I've been looking for a nativity scene for quite some time now mother. Crazy minds think alike neh. oooo this week was slow for me. We worked our butts off but didn´t get much in return. We had alot of new investigators but other than that we had troubles finding people at home to teach. We had like 18 new investigators I think. Oh I spoke in church yesterday, as usual but the branch Pres. hasn´t figured out that I don´t speak very well in Portuguese. He thinks I can take up a 20 minute block of time... hahaha. Man let me tell you what that's tough in Portuguese. That's tough in English for me. Blah it was interesting. We went on a division with our zone leaders Tuesday an Wednesday so I was in Pelotas for the night. It was good. Their area is completely flat, mine is nothing but uphill everywhere. Oh lunch there was amazing. I don´t know what it was but it was good. No not anything interesting, just amazing and not beans and rice. I never thought I'd say this but I actually like beans and rice. Maybe not for every meal, everyday but its good stuff. I had something I needed to ask you guys to send me but I don´t remember so maybe later. A can of mountain dew would be good. Hint hint next package pppplease since you love me so much. We had churrasco the other day ba! quebomb. It was amazing! Nothing like some good olbbqevery now and then. They don´t know how to cook fish down here, they throw it in some grease for like an hour until its black. Ya not so much liking the fish. I miss the good ol salmon and trout from home. Man reading through this email, it's probably the most random thing ever. I sent you guys something the other day. Let me know when it gets there hopefully not too late. It was 65 reis to send it the faster way so I decided not to send it that way. I´m a missionary, I´m poor. We have zone conference on Thursday. Sweet, maybe I´ll get some mail or packages. Who knows, oh and the conference Ensign. I´ve been waiting for that for a while now, who knows we´ll see. Hopefully we´ll have something interesting to write next week. Speaking of interesting, did I tell you guys about the drunk man? We were walking down the road and there was a man sitting on the side of the road crying. We asked him if he needed help and he just cried. We helped him up and walked him home. Man he was toasted. He couldn't´t even walk. Pretty much had to carry him home. He kept saying amen amen amen to everything we said. It was very interesting. Well I´m going to go for now. Have a wonderful week everyone. I love you all. Thanks so much for all you do for me and all the missionaries out there. You all are always in my prayers. love, ELDER RAPP

Time flies when your having fun. It has been a great week here in CanguÇu. Working to the best of my ability and kicking butt. Huge week for me, we had like 20 new investigators. Church on Sunday was majority of investigators, few members. Working hard to build the kingdom here. President Johnson last week in Zone meeting said our zone is truly rocking it. We are doing well. Last transfer, this zone had the most baptisms so we´ll see. This transfer is looking even better. And me and my comp baptised. It's been a while since Canguçu had a baptism. We are hopefully gunna have some more really soon, and with all of our new investigators we should have even more. Just working hard and praying for more. No crazy stories this week. I broke our water spout yesterday and water was going everywhere. Had to turn the water off to keep from flooding, that's kinda cool i guess. Oh I was at a members house yesterday and saw snow on the news in the states. Don´t worry I ´m enjoying my tan and my 1000 degree weather thanks. Whoo ya, the humidity really does get ya, just a little bit. I have to drink a ton of water to stay alive and kicking eh. The water here from the tap is disgusting. It's brown half the time so we buy water. Things just aren´t quite as civilized but it truly is an amazing country. You can see a family that lives in a tiny one room shack that is about to fall down but they have a tv. Everyone has a tv not very often do they not. They live for tv down here, which is weird the only thing on is soap operas and news boooorrrring. But i like to watch the Disney movies in Portuguese very cool. They talk normal so I can understand most of it. People on the other hand speak a million miles an hour. Well time is running out. Things are better and I´m not sick anymore so life is good. I love you all and pray for you always. ELDER RAPP

Well I´ll give you the good news first. We had a baptism on Sat. It was supposed to be on Friday but she didn´t show up. So it ended up being on Sat. It was way cool. I baptised her. The water temp was good enough to go ice fishing in I´m sure. Things went great. She came to church yesterday and was confirmed. Ok now the bad news... you ready... you ready now... ok already calm down... relax i´m working on it... ok here it goes, This week has been really slow on work as I can´t handle much. I felt pain in my eyes and behind my eyes staring on Monday. It then moved into my head and my whole body. ZERO ENERGY ya, it pretty much sucks. This occurred for 6 days until I finally decided what I was taking to fix the problem wasn´t working. So yesterday I called President and Sister Johnson and said what is going on, and how can I fix it. They gave me permission to get the real drugs that totally make you feel good. We can´t buy medicine without their permission by the way, so I took it yesterday and tried to sleep my pain away. Yep it worked. I didn´t have to speak in church because of it, that was nice. Today only my eyes hurt. It's like someone punched you in the eye really hard, that type of feeling Ya so this week has been pretty rough for me other than the baptism. I found myself checking the snow report for Big Sky to see how things were for you guys. Did anyone do any skiing, boarding, sledding, snow angels, any of my favorites? We are going to go on another hike today with some of the kids in town. This area rocks. It's not boring. It has tons to do on p-day. Is hunting season over yet? Daddy needs an elk. That's alright, get him out duck hunting. I think he´ll like it. I love it, so it can´t be to bad eh! Jordan will know where to go. Maybe call Zach, he´ll help ya. Well times are good here. I´m healthy for the most part now. I will keep working my best. I´m loving the work. The language can at times kill me, but it's coming along faster. Oh, one more thing, I caught a lizard the other day. It was sweet, named him Elder. hahaha I´m an idiot, I know. Well I love you all and hope you have a great week. Muah! Loves from literally the bottom of the world. Love, ELDER RAPP

Hey guys! Things are going great I´m a bit jealous you all get to go play in the snow without me. It's stinking hot here no chance of snow. EVER! I´m in Conguçu now, with a Brasilian comp. I´m excited to be here. We have a baptism on Sat. I have a ton of work in store for me here. E. Pires finishes his mission in 4 weeks, so I will take over the area. Show my new comp the routes. We have a lot of investigators with baptismal dates so we´ll work hard. The area is huge and nothing but hills. I don´t think I told you but I punched a new hole in the belt. All your bets for being fatter when I come home are gonna lose. hahah I win. When you send a package I need my camera cord that I didn´t bring. My last comp had the same camera so he had the cord but I need one now, and tape pics of Jesus on the packages. It makes the Brasilians feel bad when they are tempted to steal it. hhahahaha got ya good punks. That's my candy! Scratch the gummy candy, it will melt and be gooo when it gets here. I´m going on a hike today, hopefully if it doesn´t rain. I have tons of pics to send but no way to send them so as soon as that cord gets here i´ll send them. I hope you guys have a blast at the condo do some playing for me too. Tell John and Ronda and the kids hi for me. Muah love you all. Things here are great I´ve never work this hard but love it. Its a bit more rewarding than normal work. Oh and by the way I can´t speak English, it sucks. I´m in between languages right now. Starting to get Port, but forget English, its sweet. I prayed in English the other day and it was horrible. Like a child seriously. Not even kidding ya. Oh there is a red neck here in Conguçu. I fed the cows and chopped wood last week, it was great. I felt at home. Except the snow of course. What is the snow report anyway? You should send me a snow ball, that would be sweet. I'm a dork I know. Pics of all the crazies there, laying in the snow, you know the good ol times, and pics of everyone. I love you all. Have a great week. Have a blast. Enjoy your Thanksgiving. I´ll enjoy my beans and rice since Brasildoesn´t have Thanksgiving. Muah! love y'all, Elder Rapp

This is the only one i got besides the one from daddy. Things are going better this week the past couple have been tons of work with little to show. We have lots of new investigators and some made huge progress by going to church like they've been promising since I got here. I had a very interesting Sunday yesterday. I woke up and was like I´m speaking today Elder. Ya it sucked. Just when you think you can speak alright you have to speak in church. I didn´t have a topic so I threw some thoughts together about Prophets and Joseph Smith. It seemed to go all right except I´m not sure exactly if I tied it all together very well. It is still hard for me to think in Portuguese. I´m getting there though. I will find out today if I´m staying in Nilowulff or not. Transfers were supposed to be Wednesday but now they're tomorrow. fun huh... not I might have to pack everything and catch a bus. I don´t know if I mentioned it but I hate the bus. There is always too many people on it. I went on a division to another area about 45 min from here the other day. Ya it was with a Brasilian comp. It was rough, he made me teach a ton. I didn't know where to start but he said it was good so ya. oo I had something other than beans and rice yesterday. Wow, lasagna or however you spell it, it was amazing. Well all is well here. Wait did I tell you we are teaching deaf people? Way cool, yesterday they prayed in sign language. That was way awesome. I hope I stay here. There are tons of people I want to see baptized, but it's all in the Lords hands so I´ll go anywhere. I love you all! Have an amazing week and I will talk to you next week. ELDER RAPP

Friday, January 11, 2008

Hello everyone! Hows things in Idaho? I bet it isn´t as hot as Brasil. It is now summer I believe with 100% humidity, its quite fun. I love my cold showers now that's for sure. There's nothing like coming home after a long days work and taking a cold shower. But apparently I don´t know heat yet. It must still be cold here or something. Everyone wears pants and long shirts still. On really hot days no one wears clothes. It seems the clothes just don´t exist, blah, no good. Today has been kinda just a relaxing day we have no money so we went to a members house and watched a movie and ate the worst beans and rice I've had yet. Very very salty today. Things are going great still. Well people aren´t wanting our message and people aren´t investigating but other than that things are great. We had a black guy the other day say he didn't want our message because we are white that was cool. In his words `what color is God huh? Do you really know what color he is? That was interesting. We had some churrasco the other day. It was amazing. I could eat just that everyday, but I will live with beans and rice. Whats the word on the condo it seems to be coming up really fast. I think that I´m missing the snow huh? No fair do you think you could send me some? Just a little bit though. Al right just pictures of other all will be great lots of them please. Even if you have to print them the cheap way that will work for me. This first transfer is almost through whoo time has really flown by. I feel like I just got to Porto Alegre but it has been a whole month already. I believe by the end of next week I will know if I´m staying here in NiloWulff or not. I really would like to stay now that I actually know where I´m at and have some friends. A few people speak a little English so that helps. The Portuguese is still rough, but I´m learning alot more here than in Sao Paulo. That was an Americanized English speaking place. Ya, but it was a great learning experience. I miss it, but wouldn´t want to go back, confusing I know but its true. I never told you all but I participated in a few Portuguese blessings last week. It was was sweet. I anointed and my comp blessed. It was very powerful. I understand most words but am having trouble putting sentences together to figure out what they are saying. I think I speak better than I understand at this point. I´ll keepchuggin along and working my but off. Ya the weight has dropped tremendously. I´m gonna come home hopefully skinny. If i keep going at this rate I will for sure. Something about walking a 100 miles a day will do that to you. Well I love you all and you are all in my prayers. I want Andrea's email address so I can write my fav sis. k . thanks a million love you guys. until next week have a great week. muah! ELDER RAPP

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Hello everyone! Another week down and almost done with first transfer. Whoohoo! I know I know you want stories. I haven´had much to tell you story wise so I will tell you about my life. It starts out at 7 am, wake up, and work out, eat, shower you know. Then we study till about 11 30 and go to our lunch appt. AND EAT A TON of food mostly beans and rice. We then go back to the house and study some more. 3 or so we go to work visiting people and teaching till 9 or so. Then its back home for planning time and get ready for bed. I´m in bed by 11. most nights... Day after day that is what i do. I played futebol with the neighborhood kids on my first p-day here in Restinga. The culture here is great I love it. They don´t knock on doors here they clap doors. Interesting huh. so i can say as a fact that Ive never had a door slammed in my face here. huhuhu I´m sure some would like to say that in other missions in the world. Lets just say my mission IS THE BEST MISSION IN THE WORLD!!! We had a lady answer her door and say we could come in so she went in to get the keys to her gate ,everything is gated fyi, so we thought she went to get them... nope she left us out there. We waited for like ten minutes and then left. We have had alot of success getting new investigators but they all move away before their baptismal date. We had one scheduled for the 27th of Oct. and she moved the 26th. Difficult people huh? One of the parts of our area is very ghetto, I´m talking people living in one room shacks made of thin boards. We hear a lot of guns going off in that area. No worries we are very safe. I promise, breath. One of the kids in my district in the ctm, I was talking to him in the mission home last week and he was on a split with some elders in another area. They were walking down the street and saw a guy walk up to another and shoot him in the back of the head. Crazy!!! That area is now closed. His first split on the mish and he sees that yikes. I´m sorry, I shouldn't´t tell you stories like that. I´m in a safe area and I live in a safe neighborhood so all is well. My house is sufficient for 2 people. It is made of 1 layer of brick. Ya interesting. All the houses are that way besides the shacks. My washing machine, hhahaha get this.. its like a barrel with a hose going into it and a small thing on the inside that swirls the water a bit. Cool huh? You can pass that on to the elders in the states. Nope we don´t have dryers, they don´t exist. We have a clothes line. Don´t ask me how my clothes will dry in the winter when it rains for weeks at a time. We will have to cross that bridge when it comes huh? Well my time is short so I love you all and am praying for each of you. Oh before I go I have a wish list for goodies hint hint. They have 11dollar flat rate envelopes you can cram full. Sunflower seeds (spits smoked bbq), tropical skittles, beef jerky, gummy any thing but more specifically gummy frogs. Ask Jordan he will know, mt dew if you can get a can or 2 in a package, and honey roasted peanuts. That will do for now. Happy Halloween too. I love you all. Until next Monday, tchao Love, ELDER RAPP

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Hey y'all, Everything is great in Brasil. Kind of had a rough week but I´ll get to the food subject first. Oh Mother I love you. You make me laugh. You don´t need to worry at all. I´m eating plenty. We study all morning and go to lunch at a members house, eat a HUGE lunch and go back to work. K, then we get home and have our daily planning session and go to bed. See it's not like we´re starving. We eat tons, no need to call Pres. or anything k. Love ya! So its good to hear hunting season is going well. I´m proud of you daddy. Don´t let anyone make fun of how small she is just remember your son shoots tiny ones every year eh. You can´t be too picky when it comes to hunting not all the time are you going to find what ya want. They all taste good to me. Elk season is really where its at anyway. Oh everyone makes fun of me cause I´m a redneck. Apparently I have a thicker redneck accent than I thought eh? They like all of my hunting and fishing stories though. Well hows things going this week? Getting excited for the condo yet? SOOOOOOO JEALOUS, snow would be heaven right now. It is getting really HOT now we had the 100´s for quite some time now and humidity on top of that with huge mosquito's huh. Sounds like heaven to me. Blah it has been a bit warm. By the end of the day I´m tired and hot and ready to sleep. It´s hard work that is for sure. Last week was rough, alot of rejection. We did our best but didn´t get a whole lot of feedback from the people here. Oh by the way my area is Restinga Nova NiloWulff. I told you wrong. So ya, things are going well other than peoplearen´t wanting to hear our message. We only had 1 investigator at church on Sunday that was a bummer. We had a baptism scheduled for the 27th but she fell through for that day. She was supposed to be at church in order to get baptised on the 27th but we´ll push it back a week or so. Things are great I will have to figure out how to get some pictures on here for you. I have some wild ones that will give you the willies. Spiders the size of my head you know. Oh you should see my washing machine its tight. Well I´m out of time for now. I love you all so very much and pray for you always. keep up the good work. Jordan buddy send me a email this week. Bud i want to hear how things are going. It doesn´t have to be long, but send me something k? Love ya. ELDER RAPP WHO IS EATING TONZ!!!!

Another week has come and gone. Life in the field is great. We had a baptism on Friday. Whoohooo that boosted my spirits and made me want to work harder. We have 9 others marked for the next month or so. Things are going well. I still can't speak or understand much but it is coming slowly. I just have to be patient. They are getting rid of the pouch system, so no more sending things through that. My address is ELDER RAPP - missaoBrasil Porto AlegreSul - AV. Princessa Isabella 342-B - Santana - Porto Alegre/RS 90620-970 - Brasil Pass it on please. So it's sounding like things are going well. Minus the luck with those deer. I miss that part of Idaho. Hunting season, the mountains, the cold mountain air. Here its flat. Brasil's idea of mountains are hills. Ya fun huh. Send an Idaho redneck to a place that is flat. But things are going well. I still don´t eat a whole lot. Don´t worry Mom, I´m not starving. I just eat once a day and fast for 24hours. I´m still alive and kicking. Food here is beans and rice mostly. They have what is called churrasco which is the best bbq in the world. I love it. Big huge chunks of meat over a pit of coals. AMAZING that's the only way to describe it. I had pizza last week that was kind of gross. It didn´t agree with any of us the next day. A little boy threw up while we were eating there. That should have been the first sign huh. We´re all healthy now. My comp has the flu and has for the last week, so we´re trying do get rid of that. Oh i caught a lizard in our house the other day but he escaped his cage man. Everything is great here. I love you all and pray for each of you constantly. Know that I love you and am with you always. Ate Logo ELDER RAPP By the way Rapp is a very popular name here they all like my name.

Hey everybody!!! How's things in the great state of Idaho? Sounds like things are going great, hunting season in full swing and snow on the ground. 2 years and i´ll be back in the woods. I´m missing my mountains. I´m in the southern part of Porto Alegre called NiloWulff. It's completely flat. Cobble stone roads, dirt roads. you know. We do have hot water every now and again. I have had 3 meals since I got here on Thursday. I´m doing great. I do have some advice for you, Feed the missionaries. hahaha I thought that would make you laugh. But really we don´t eat a whole lot. I´m grateful to be here though. My new companion is E. Rasmussen. He is from Utah, imagine that everyone is from Utah. Things are going great. I love the area, the people, my companion. We have 10-12 baptisms scheduled right now so we´ll see how those turn out. A 14 year old young lady named Brenda is supposed to be baptised on Saturday. I´ll let you know how that goes next week. We contacted a lady named Cristiani last week and have taught her twice now. She agreed to be baptised on the third of next month and seems to be doing well. We continue to pray for new investigators because we aren´t finding a whole lot right now but we have been blessed with lots of references and other contacts. We ´ll continue to work hard and let the spirit work in their hearts. Conference was great. I missed Saturday night and the priesthood session but the rest of it was great. I saw the trees changing colors on temple square. I miss that but oo i´ll be alright. I need some more pics of home. Anything would be great so send them in the mail if you would. I need some hunting pics of me and everyone too. How is hunting season going by the way? Is anyone even going now that i´m gone. The mission field is great i can understand a word or two here and there but that's about it. It takes alot of patience most of the time and can be at times really frustrating. I´m learning faster here than i was in the ctm. I have my patriarchal blessing and Meghansady so i think we're good there. I believe it is right so i will send her letter there this week. Last weeks was sent to the house. So ya, how long is it taking to get there? I have limited time this week so I love you all and pray for each of you personally. I know that this gospel is true and the blessing are without number. I know that this is where I am to be right now and things will be great. We will learn from our trials and grow so much. Pray always and know that your Father in Heaven loves you. I love you all. Thanks for all the prayers and letters. Keep sending them, it is good to here from ya´ll. Love, ELDER RAPP

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Dear family,We have passed another milestone. Today is October 2, 2007. I arrived in Porto Alegre this morning at about 10:00 so 7:00 there. We were up about the time Jordan went to bed. 3:00 came very very early this morning. The flight went well. I'm really tired after all that waking up early and traveling stuff. We had lunch with President Johnson and his wife today. Dominoes pizza baby! It was good to have something other than beans and rice for a change. Although the CTM was very American in all of the food and living. Well everything is going great. I'm healthy. I'm happy. All is well. I love you all. Thanks for the package and all the American candy.Love you all,Elder Rapp

Well it's here. I'm in the CTM. The work begins. I am so excited. My time here is going to be amazing. I Love it already. It is so great. The trip here went great, flights were all fine, a little cramped but I'll live. My companion is Elder Zundel from Ogden, Utah. He is a great kid. We will get along great. I'm so excited to be here. The town of Sao Paulo is very dumpy but the church is still true. Weather is great. Everything is fine. My first meal was beans and rice. I get to drink guarana everyday now. It's good stuff. Pass along to Justin that I love him and Savannah as well. Classes start tomorrow bright and early. I'm pumped, never have been nervous yet. Thanks for the letter Mom. I love you guys. This will be so awesome. The blessings you will receive will be tremendous. We get more Elder's tomorrow, native Brazilians. What great people they are. You walk down the street and get smiles and opas. They are just amazing people. Prep-day will be Tuesdays or Wednesdays. I'm pretty sure letters only take 7 days or so to get there so you will get this soon. (we didn't get it for like 3 weeks!) Read the back of this carefully so that you don't make a mistake and I have to pay taxes on stuff. Well I'm going to get back to work. I love you all. You're in my prayers. I bear you my testimony that the church is true and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. I testify that I've been called to serve in Brazil from a true and living prophet through the inspiration of God. Jordan hang in there bud. You're an amazing kid. There is no doubt in my mind that your true potential is so great. I love you Bro. and am praying for you. I challenge you to start reading the Book of Mormon again. It will help you I promise. Tell Meghan I love her and she is in my prayers. I love you guys. The church is true.Love,Elder Rapp

Hello everyone!!! I´m in my last week. Today is my last p-day in the ctm. Time has flown. I´m really excited to get into the field and work hard. The CTM has taught me me so much. My testimony of the gospel grows so much on a daily basis. Not to mention my pant size. J/K i do eat 3 meals a day but i haven´t grown much. Its more a healthy well balanced diet. Nottin like mommas cookin do. I miss American food believe it or not. While we were proselyting last Friday a couple of the Elders got McDonald's and said it was amazing so maybe i´ll get some in the airport on my way out of São Paulo. I´m excited to get into a little more open area but i´ll probably be in the heart of Porto Alegre now that i want some space. I´ll live i guess. How's hunting season going for Archery Justin maybe if i ask you specifics you'll write me and tell me. How ya are buddy. I miss ya man. Job changes and everything your probably doing alot of work right now but i´m still waiting to here from ya bud. Jordan's turn... How's the Junior way of life now. It was a big jump for me. I really had to step it up in my work. Sophomore year was kinda layed back not much work so i struggled at first. Hang in there and work hard but stay focused on your school work it is important. Looking back I wish I would have done a better job in school. I know you get caught up in the moment and caught up with friends but there is time for school, so work hard. Tell Ed hi for me and Ms Jansma as well. Get me their real email addresses and give them mine so I can talk to them. Por favor. I love you bud I pray for you every night and know that you are doing well. Keep up the good work. Well this last week has been pretty slow, alot of review in my Portuguese learning. I´m still struggling more than the others in my district but am going to step up my confidence in myself and do the best i can. We had alot of really good spiritual experiences through out our district while proselyting last Friday. Alot of us talked to some very interesting and interested people. We went to a place with alot of homeless people. I t is known for the yellow fountain there. I´m sure you can guess why!!! Ya the place reeked of urine. I saw some homeless people fighting, that was pretty funny. A couple of drunk old men trying to beat each other up. I laughed a little bit. A couple of the missionaries met a homeless guy that was a member many years ago and had no money so he left the church, and is now living on the street. He had a strong desire to get back into the church but didn´t know how. These elders helped him read some of the Book of Mormon and some of the great promises in there. He really wanted to pray so they prayed with him.They said that he just sobbed after words. What a great experience they had and I´m sure the spirit was so strong at that moment. It amazes me how much the spirit teaches me. I love having those constant feelings of warmth and comfort from him. My companion and I talked to a young man who has studied alot about our church and believes it but struggles with the fact of modern day Prophets. He said that he would keep studying and try to find out more about us so we can only pray for him. I was with IrmãoBonetti later when we were almost ready to leave and we went and talked to a guy on the steps of this huge theater in the city. As I fumbled through my Portuguese he began to light up. I felt like he would read The Book of Mormon I gave him. I bore my testimony of its truthfulness and I believe that he will be blessed by reading it. I know he will read it. All these make my testimony grow so much. I love this gospel and this great work. Sometimes it is frustrating but that is part of the WORK part of things. I have enjoyed my time at the ctm but am anxious to get to the field. I know this Church is true and am so very grateful to serve here in Brasil. I know that Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet of God and he receives modern day revelation for us. We are blessed to live in these days. The sins of the world are great right now but that can only make us stronger. I love you all and thank you for all your prayers in my behalf. I pray for each one of you and know that you are being blessed. Love You All, ELDER RAPP

This one is the Campinas temple. I think Elder Rapp said this one is about an hour from the MTC.This one is the Sao Paulo Temple. The Missionary Training Center or MTC (Elder Rapp refers to it as CTM in his letters) is in Sao Paulo.

This is Elder Rapp in front of the Porto Alegre Temple. On their preparation days while in the MTC, they were able to go to the temple a few times. They attended the Sao Paulo Temple and also the Campinas temple while there. This temple is in his mission area and when he is serving close to Porto Alegre, he has the opportunity to attend this temple.

This is Elder Rapp's favorite barbecue. Being a hunter, he loves his meat. Heehee he rants and raves over this stuff. It is called churrasco. He says it is the best barbecue in the world and described it as "AMAZING".

Wow what a week. This week has been in some ways the hardest. Everyone is ready to get out of the ctm and into the real world. We have had a lot of contention in the district, but we all talked last night and cleared things up. E. Darlington exploded, it was quite interesting, but things are good now that our feelings are out there. Just got back from the São Paulo temple. It is a very beautiful temple. The inside is so beautiful I don´t think i could describe it and have it be close enough to its beauty. P-days go for Americans Tuesdays and Wednesdays and then Brasilians on Thursday. There are only 3 places w/ computers so our time is really limited. We can´t use the ones at the ctm for anything other than the TALL program to learn Portuguese. We can only mail letters outside of the ctm. We only have 2 weeks left as of yesterday. whoohoo! I´m excited to get to Porto Alegre and find out that I've been learning something they call Portuguese, but really isn´t how people speak. There are 21 or us flying out to Porto Alegre on September 2, 12 americans and the rest Brasilians. The brasilian missionaries are so funny. They think i´m crazy because of my A D D which by the ways is coming out real nice now that I know everyone. I´m still mellow compared to alot of people. The food is all staring to taste the same. My appetite is shrinking, so no worries about me needing to buy a new bunch of pants. I had a pen explode on my shirt pocket last week. Sweet huh? Ruined my shirt and my garments. fun fun fun. Sister Cardon has been working on them for a few days trying to get it out, but we´ll see how it turns out. I took pics, so as soon as I get in the field, I´ll send you all pics of Brasil, my ctm comp, my new comp, the whole nine yards. Can I tell you how bad I hate typing. I wish i would have worked a little harder in computer classes. This takes me forever. You´d think by 19 a brother would be able to use a computer effectively. Not much new in the ctm. We go proselyting on Friday again this time to a place with a fountain all the homeless people use as their bathroom. Yummy i´m excited. Brasil is not quite like the us eh!!! A bit different but not quite third world country. We´ll say second world. Ok ready for the highlight of my week. Tuesday night devotional last night was amazing. Normally we have like Stake Presidents and area authorities come speak, which are good still, but a little more special would be nice. You know Provo gets like General authorities all the time. Where's the love for Brasil? We are important too and the church is still true down here. Ok enough blabbing, I´ll get to the point. President Didier, president of the 1st quorum of the seventy came. He is over all of the missionary work in Brasil. What a great meeting. I hope that we get more meetings like that before i leave. He spoke on commitment more or less. Not looking at how we are now, but looking at how great we will become in the future. What a great talk. He told us that learning a language was easy. Ya easy for him who knows 6 languages fluently. I´ll get there with time, I just have to be patient. My growth already amazes me. I didn´t realize how much I actually knew before I came, and now to see my growth, makes me want to keep studying and working hard so that i can grow even more. Sometimes it seems like 12 hours of study in a day isn´t enough I want more. There are more things I want to do in a day than my time allows. Well time is short, so I´ll wrap it up. I know that this gospel is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He lives and loves me. I have taken upon me his name as a representative of him. How truly blessed I am to have the opportunity to serve in Brasil. I love the people and pray for them to feel the spirit through me. I love this gospel and I love this Work. The church is true. We have a living prophet upon the face of the earth today. He speaks to our Father in Heaven and receives inspiration for us. I love this work and bear you my testimony of its importance in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Love you all, ELDER RAPP Thank you all so much for the prayers in my behalf.

Hello everyone. Everything is going great. I´m finally starting to pick up on Portuguese. Our Brasilian roommates left yesterday. It was sad. I already wrote you all an email but the computers crashed so I'm back trying it again. Good thing cause now i can tell you what candy i NEED, ya need. I'd kill for some candy right now. Um lets see, skittles, tropical ones. Por favor. Watermelonsourpatch, Jordan will know which ones. Lots of jolley ranchers, some twizzlers any flavor but black, jolley rancher again. Chocolate will probably melt so none there, and chocolate down here is amazing for that matter. Anything you can stuff in there, letters you know. Its all good. Pics of everyone. Well i´ll do my best with the little time i have now. Stupid computers. Last week went very well. I went proselyting again, this time in a park instead of a busy street like times square. It was great. I learned that I must always have a prayer in my heart and did much much better than before. The spirit was really working hard through me and my comp. It is really amazing to see peoples faces light up and fill with happiness and peace. My testimony has grown so much every day that I´m here. I spend all my time studying and its paying off. My Portuguese will come with time, it still has its frustrating moments. We got a new elder in our district that was supposed to fly with us from SLC on to Brasil. He broke his leg like the week before so he has been in Provo for 5 weeks. Elder Cavacante and I have been helping each other with our languages, but now he left me. I was just up in my room a little while ago and they set some new places for roommates, so hopefully we´ll get some more Brasilians. Its starting to get really hot. I´m dying in this 1000 degree tiny 4x4 shop typing in the sun. j/k It isn´t quite that hot, maybe 80 -85, somewhere in there with some humidity. Way to kill my shirts with sweat stains. Thanks alot sun. I need you to send me like a bank report so I can see what the card is charging like. I´m going to have to take out 80 reis next week so it will be about 40 bucks us dollars. I ordered some stuff for my scriptures, and of course some snacks for my last couple of weeks. So if you would send me a bank statement that would be wonderful. I need to know if debit is cheaper. I think it is but am not 4 sho. I used it like twice already for internet usage. Tell my brothers i love them and keep working on Jordan to write me. I appreciated what I got from him, it made my day. If you guys like dear elder better, that comes for me on Thursdays, so that would be fine. Emails are great, whatever works out best for you all at the time. If you haven´t already sent me that blank card for Meghan, you can send it with the book. Um just to be safe send the package to Porto Alegre because packages seem to be taking a while to get here from the states. Sister Smith can only send so much from the ctm to the mission home, so just go ahead and send it straight to my mission. Por favor obrigade boa tarde. Well time is running low so i must be going. Thanks for everything. I love you all. Tell everyone hello and I love them. Thanks for all the prayers. Give Meghan a great big hug for me and tell her thanks for the package. I know that this church is true and that the work I´m doing is called of God. The blessings are all receiving now and in the future are without number. I love this gospel and I love the spirit being a missionary brings me. I get to be engulfed in it every second of my day. That alone is priceless. I love you all. Be safe. You're all in my prayers everyday, which by the way is about 500 times a day that we missionaries pray. Love you all, ELDER RAPP

Wow, time is flying by down here. It must be something in the guarana. jk things are going great. I had an awesome week last week. We taught member families from São Paulo. It was kind of scary at first but i warmed up. No worries anymore my shyness is pretty much gone. Remember all the times you all said my a d d would drive everyone crazy, well i´m mellow compared to the most of them. Haha I win love you. We lost a member of our district last week. Elder Holt has been sick since he got here so they sent him home on medical leave. It pretty much sucked. We were all sad and many prayers went out in his behalf that he would get it figured out and get back out in the field. You are all probably just barely getting up. Sometimes i wish i could sleep in a little bit. 12 hours of studying in a stinking chair in a tiny classroom with 12, well 11 other people, whew it gets tiring. I went to the dentist yesterday because I lost that filling again someone needs to go figure out why they aren`t staying in my mouth. Anyways it is a little weird having someone speaking a million miles an hour in a language that sounded to me nothing like Portuguese. That will make you go crazy. I watched the whole thing on a tv screen via the camera in my mouth. That was cool i thought. So beans and rice everyday for every meal are getting a little old. I`d kill for a junior bacon cheese burger right now. No temple today the Sâo Paulo one is closed for cleaning this week. My computer is being dumb. This will take all day. I can`t put in any punctuation. I am going proselyting on Friday this week. It will be great. I'm not scared to approach people anymore. President Cardonctm pres said something cool. "YOUR NEVER JUST BUYING BANANAS." So we need to talk to everyone around us, strike up conversations. Well its harder since i don't speak Portuguese very well, but i will get it. Speaking of fruit, did i tell you i have fresh fruit in front of my face always? I`ve eaten watermelon everyday no joke since i got here. Fresh pineapple, guava, grapes, bananas, hmmm what else ? Papaya, its kind of flavorless. All the guarana i can drink, whooo its good. They have a drink called bliss. It's like gogurt only a little thinner so i drink yogurt every meal. Meat is another big thing here in Brasil. There will always be come kind of meat for breakfast. They eat bread and cereal. what else, hmmm I dunno. Do you have any questions I might could answer? I`ll tell you about the city a little bit. Picture the skyline of N.Y.C. , huge buildings everywhere. Multiply that by one hundred as far as the eye can see, nothing but huge buildings. The roads here are like small one lane, except the freeways are like twelve. Motorcycles everywhere weaving in and out of traffic. I know one is going to get hit while i`m here. The roads are like a plate of spaghetti. Good luck finding your way around. The temp is probably 75- 80 degrees on a warm day and 50 to 60 on a cold day, so ya not too bad. Porto Alegre is known for their cold times. They say that those people who live in Alaska get cold! It rains alot and the wind pierces to the bone. Whoo Idaho aintgunna affect me no more. Did you like that English? Haha i´m still waiting to hear from my cute little brother. Come on man, I miss you! I want to hear how life's going. I´m in my 6th week now and haven´t talked to you. Love ya bud, your the man. Keep your spirits high and shoot for the stars. Anything is possible. I know how much potential you have and i know that you can do great things. I should have brought my study journal with me. I found a great scripture for you. Oh well, I will get it for you later. So hows Justin doing? I haven´t heard much about him for a while, and Andrea, Justin and Mykl? I'vereceived some letters from them. Mykl drew me a picture. It made me smile! I could get pictures from her everyday and love it. Shes growing up too fast. Well my time is up so i better wrap it up. I love you all so much and appreciate your prayers. They are truly felt. The lord will bless us all. Keep the faith! Mom and Dad, I love you so much. Thank you for everything. It truly means alot to me to be brought up in the gospel. I never really knew how blessed I really am until I got down here. Most of the Brasilians here in the ctm are the only members in their families, and are new to the gospel. What a testimony builder to me! They come here with a small suitcase holding everything they own and I came here with two and another bag. I know that these people are children of God, that he blesses their lives by bringing them the missionaries. The people here are ready for the light of the gospel. They dream about it day and night. They pray and pray for us, their angels to appear to them, and bring them the true gospel. I love this work with all my heart, and pray that I may affect even just one life here. I pray for the spirit to guide me to the people God has prepared. I know this church is true! Em nomede Jesus CristoAmèm Mom will you do me a favor and send me a birthday card for Meghan. Her birthday is November ninth. I want to send her a pretty one from you and then send it back to you to send it with a dozen roses for her. Do you think you could do that for me just a pretty card with no writing in it yet. Thanks a million. Love you all, TCHAU ELDER RAPP

Monday, January 7, 2008

Hi family. Everything is going great down here. I am doing well the language has its frustrating times still but i´m hanging in there. I had the most amazing opportunity to go proselyting last Friday. wow what an overwhelming experience. Speaking only Portuguese and little at that but to see the faces of those we came in contact with. Lots of rejection but still lots that gave us a few minutes to talk to them. It was cool to see how everything fit together. All of it was a little bit memorized but sometimes it would just fly out of my mouth. Very very cool and the spirit was very very strong. We go again not this Friday but next so i will fill you in a little more then. It is hard to write everyone i want to in a days work. Just know that i appreciate the letters and the prayers and am thinking about all of you. Mom will you go to the book store and see if there is a book called 501 Portuguese verbs. It would help me alot in my studies but if not that would be ok. I love you all so much. Today we went to the São Paulo temple. It was great. A little smaller than the last but a beautiful temple inside and out. I wish that they would let us take cameras to the temple so i could show you all how pretty these temples are but i guess the internet will have to do. I am so happy to be engulfed in this great work it is amazing the progress i see myself going through. My testimony grows so much on a daily basis. I study about 12 hours a day whew that'salot of class. Mom could you get me Zach´s home address and Jessica's as well i need to write them. Well the church is true I testify of the truthfulness of the gospel. I pray for you all and appreciate you prayers. I know that the Lord has called me to this great country for a reason. I have Prayed many times to know that this is where i´m supposed to be and i know it is I know that there is a living prophet upon the earth today he leads and guides us in this the last dispensation. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for my sins and through his great sacrifice i can return to live with my father in heaven. Keep you faith i know that the blessings you will receive will be without number. ELDER RAPP

Hey everyone i love getting your letters and emails. My favorite scripture as of now mom would have to be Ether 12:27. Meghan would have told you that silly. Well everything is still going great. 3 meals a day and life is good. Mom i forgot to tell you that the best way to send packages is in the flat rate envelopes, you´ll be surprised how much you can get them hint hint haha. I have looked through all my stuff and can´t find my patriarchal blessing would you be so kind and send me a copy of it please. Well my computer just deleted most of my email so i don´t know what would have been written here. I´ll star over grrr. The CTM is amazing i´ve learned so much in the few short weeks i´ve been here. The learning pace for me seems to be flying i pick up so much information so fast. The spirit really does teach you so much faster. I realize now more than ever what was meant by the Lords university. I would never have learned at this pace anywhere else. The spirit here is amazing being surrounded by the great men i am and hearing and bearing testimony so much. We pray about a thousand times a day. Em Ingles é em Portuguese. In our mdst the other day we spoke only thirty minutes in English the rest of out 3 1/2 hours was in Portuguese. All of my Brasilian Elder friends left yesterday in was a bummer. We were so close. There hasn´t been any in our room with us yet but a bunch of them were on our floor. Brasilians like to trade alot so i traded a tie with E. De Olivera before he left. What a great guy. He had a hard time leaving alot of tears and hugs. He was always helping me learn Portuguese all of his district were awesome. One night they all picked my companion up and started spanking him because he was wearing American flag pjs. It was so funny. They would always have dance offs in the halls at night. Muito loco!!!!!!! So much fun i loved it. None of them were going to Porto AlegreSul but i´ll find some that are. Well its good to here everything is going well at home. No need to worry about me i´m doing excellent here. We didn´t get to go to the temple today, we went and got our Brasilian id cards instead so we have alot more time for p-day. I wish i would´ve brought a backpack or some sort of bag with me. That's alright i bought a bag last week that has my name and mission on it. Its sweet 40reis in us dollars its about 20 bucks. Everything is cheap down here except electronics. Food snacks you name it very very cheap. Irmão Silas taught us about Porto Alegre the other day. Sounds cold in the winter. Wind and rain chills to the bone you know. But in the rest of the year he said its like an oven 100+ degrees and killer humidity. Well i´m pretty much out of time so we´ll catch up later. Tell everyone hi and i love them. Tell Meghan how much I Love her and pray for her. Thank you all so much for your letters and your prayers they are truly felt. Jordan buddy i need to hear from my little bro man i miss you buddy lets hear about how life's going and whats up and interesting man. I love you guys. I´ll talk to you in a week. The church is true the work that i´m am doing will bless all of your lives. Remember sacrifice is not loss it is preparation for even greater blessings. We all will be blessed tremendously. I know that Jesus Christ Atoned for my sins that through the great power of prayer i can repent and better myself. I love my savior and his great sacrifice for me. This gospel is true and i know that for sure. I love you all !!!

Hello again, It was great to hear from you guys. Wow give me the chills with your cool stories. I might have some for you that will make you happy. Mom it is the ctm down here, everythings backwards. I went to the temple again today. the Campinas temple that is. I love p days because the temple is such an amazing place. Brasil is so great i don´t know if i told you but everyone is nice. They all saw oi hello sorry on the street. Some little kids flipped us off earlier so i guess not everyone is nice. haha Well everything is still going great i mean i have my frustrations with the language but they´ll work out. Don´t worry about me not getting fed whoo they feed me 3 times a day and big huge meals. I have gym 3 days a week to compensate for it. The food is great i love all the fresh fruit they have for every meal. not like the u s but like papaya pineapple guava man that is good grapes the size of my head. The food is good. Would you do me a favor a make sure Justin reads these I want him to know that i love what i´m doing and i know that the gospel is true. Tell him how much i love him and i pray for him everyday. Jordan i miss you buddy. your my best friend and i got to be your best friend for the last cuple of years. It is good to hear your doing fine. Some advise once school starts is to work hard and study hard. seminary is a huge blessing. You WILL grow so much in being there and participating. I never was one to be really in to the lessons and participating, i think that was why i was so shy. Now that I have been here and been enveloped in the gospel i wish i would have done more in seminary. Be an example be a friend to all. I promise you that if you make the effort and strive to bring yourself closer to the Lord you will be happier. I want you to know that I love you and you mean alot to me. Hang in there and keep making good decisions you will see a change and have a special feeling about you. I love you Tell Meghan that i love her she is an amazing girl. Take care of her. Let her know how much i appreciate her love her encouraging letters and her sacrifice. Give her a great big hug for me. txt her and tell her that i love her. Hang in there bud. I love you your an amazing kid. Please pass these emails to andrea too! They dont give me much time to be on the computer so i can´t get to every one. Mom and Dad i want you to know that you´ve done well. i´m exactly the person i wanted to be. The mission has brought me so much closer to the Lord. There hasnt been 1 prayer that hasnt been answered while i´ve been out. I know that my prayers for my loved ones back at home are being answered everyday. Its good to hear the improvement of so many. I have had a headache everyday since i got here, and i asked my comanion what i should do. Wow i look up to that kid he told me to pray about it and rely on the lord. I've learned that when i want to talk to the lord i pray and when i want the lord to talk to me i read the scriptures. I recieved an answer to my prayer in Alma 31 verses like 30-35 i believe is where i was directed to. What a great blessing to me to know that my father in heaven loves me that much. The language will come i know it will so i´m going to keep my spirits high and shoot for the sky. My faith increases everyday. I am grateful for both of your examples to me. Never back down your children do learn from you. I have grown to love my whole family so much through out my life and i feel your prayers and your love and blessings going out to me. Read Moroni 8: 2-3 that reminds me that i need not worry about what is going on at home everything is ok and your sacrifices for me are priceless. Thank you soo much for your love and support. I know that you are being blessed as well. Eu sei que José Smith é um profeta de Deus e Gordon B. Hinckley é um profeta de Deus. Jesus Cristo vive. O Livro de Mórmon é verdadeiro em nomé de Jesus Cristo Amém. i love you all your in my thoughts and prayers. Love, ELDER RAPP TCHAU

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Elder Rapp's favorite scripture

Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble: and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.